James Atkinson – Wireless Magazine
ALT1250 chipset is less than 100mm2 in size and features a level of integration which eliminates most of the external components required to design a cellular IoT module
Altair Semiconductor has introduced the ALT1250, a narrowband LTE-M and NB1 (NB-IoT) chipset, which will enable mobile operators to efficiently use their 4G LTE spectrum to support low power, wide area network IoT devices at cost effective prices.
Eran Eshed, co-founder and VP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Altair, said: “With carriers expected to begin operating IoT services on LTE-M and NB1 networks by the middle of the year, the new ALT1250 comes at the right time.
“It possesses the much anticipated combination of features, power and cost required to support massive rollout of such services. We’ve taken a fresh look at what the market expects from us, and produced the most integrated, feature rich and cost-optimised chipset we’ve ever developed.”
The ALT1250’s level of integration eliminates most of the external components required to design a cellular IoT module. Approximately the size of a shirt button and less than 100mm2 in size, an ALT1250 module features support for both Release 13 standards – LTE-M and NB1.
It also includes a wideband RF front-end supporting unlimited combinations of LTE bands within a single hardware design, an integrated GPS receiver, a multi-layered and hardware-based security framework, an internal application MCU subsystem and packaging that enables standard, low-cost PCB manufacturing.
“Altair’s new ALT1250 chipset is a true low power wide area solution for IoT,” said Philippe Guillemette, CTO for Sierra Wireless. “As a market leader in IoT, Sierra Wireless is always in pursuit of the best chipset platforms that will enable us to offer highly differentiated products to our customers. We believe the ALT1250 will provide us with that kind of a competitive edge, on top of which we can build our added value and features to meet our customers’ needs.”
“This chipset is a real game-changer,” added Eshed. “The long debate is over regarding how competitive cellular chipsets can be compared to proprietary LPWA. The ALT1250 is the evidence that cellular technologies are not only superior in functionality, reliability and security, but are also as cost-efficient or more compared to non-cellular options.”
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